More than three quarters of B.C. teachers voted in favour of a tentative contract Friday night, potentially resolving the year-long labour dispute that led to a three-day teacher walkout and teachers refusing to oversee extra-curricular activities.

Out of B.C.'s 40,000 public school teachers, 21,044 cast ballots. Ultimately 75.3 per cent ratified the agreement.

"I think [the vote] probably reflects a sense of exhaustion," said B.C. School Trustees Association president Michael McEvoy. "It has been a very difficult year for everyone — teachers, staff, parents, students.... It's with a sense of relief that I think everyone views this result."

"It's a good first step," McEvoy added, noting that in order to reach an agreement a number of issues were left of the table and there is a lot more to talk about when negotiations resume next year.

Trustees and boards around the province will meet early next week to also vote on ratification of the contract.

"I'm very pleased," said Education Minister George Abbott in an interview, adding the agreement means "a period of peace in the schools."

The 75 per cent ratification, said Abbott, confirms the opportunity the government has to build a better relationship with teachers in the coming months.

Teachers began casting their votes Wednesday following the surprise deal reached between the B.C. Teachers Federation and the government's bargaining agent.

The teachers' union urged its members to accept the agreement, which gives them improved benefits worth $2.3 million as well as better leave and seniority provisions, but no wage increases.

However, the Yes vote won't necessarily end the fighting between the teachers and the government. A legal challenge launched by the union against Bill 22 — the government's back-to-work legislation — remains unresolved. The two-year contract is also retroactive to last June, meaning negotiations will begin once again in 2013 following the provincial election.

Despite the endorsement of the contract, the union complained it only agreed to the deal because the province would have otherwise legislated a new contract.

The B.C. Teachers’ Federation recommended teachers vote in favour of the contract, but the union complained it only agreed to the deal because the province would have otherwise legislated a new contract.

Union president Susan Lambert said the fact that nearly half of teachers didn’t vote, and a quarter of those who did rejected the contract, clearly shows teachers weren’t happy with the agreement.

“I think that’s an indication teachers are realizing that going into school next year, this settlement does nothing to alleviate the working conditions and learning conditions in schools, it does nothing to decrease classroom sizes, it does nothing to increase the programs that support children with special needs,” Lambert told reporters in Vancouver shortly after the results were announced.

“From that point of view, we realize that this government has refused to accept its responsibility to nurture a high-quality education system. That’s very hard for teachers to hear.”

The executive of the Greater Victoria Teachers' Association on the other hand recommended that its members reject the agreement, arguing it failed to address the key concerns of Victoria teachers.

"It doesn't have anything on class size and composition, nothing on salary and preparation time," said president Tara Ehrcke in an interview. "Over 90 per cent of our teachers indicated that those were a high priority item.

"I think teachers in Victoria are willing to continue and escalate job action if that's what's required in order to get a fair deal."

The dispute has largely focused on wages - teachers initially asked for a 15 per cent pay increase - but class size and composition are also cited by teachers as major issues.

Teachers overwhelmingly voted to strike last year to back their demands, but because of essential-services legislation they aren't allowed to stage any job action, including a full-scale walkout, without the approval of the province's Labour Relations Board.

The teachers started the school year refusing to perform certain administrative duties, such as filling out report cards.

That continued until February when the province revealed it was considering legislation to force the teachers to return to their normal duties. The same week, a government-appointed fact finder released a report that concluded there was little hope the two sides would reach a deal through negotiations.

The prospect of back-to-work legislation prompted teachers to ask permission from the labour board to walk off the job. The board ruled teachers could walk out for three days, which they did in March.

Shortly after, the legislature passed the controversial Bill 22, which prevented teachers from walking off the job or staging any further job action, imposed a so-called cooling off period and appointed a mediator to broker a deal. The legislation required any new deal to comply with the province's no-wage-increase policy.

In the meantime, the teachers also asked the B.C. Supreme Court to order a new mediator be appointed. The union argued the mediator, Charles Jago, was biased and didn't have the qualifications necessary to fill the post.

The B.C. Supreme Court rejected the teachers' case Friday, upholding Jago's appointment. Education Minister George Abbott was free to exercise his discretion in appointing a mediator and Jago's appointment was reasonable, Judge Hope Hyslop wrote in a decision posted to the court's website.

Although that legal challenge didn't go their way, the teachers launched another one this week.

The union's notice of claim claims the law put too many restrictions on the mediator and again complains about Jago's impartiality.

It also says the province has ignored a court decision from last year that struck down legislation preventing teachers from including class size and composition in collective bargaining.

With files the Victoria Times Colonist

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Majority of B.C. teachers vote in favour of contract agreement

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